Insider predicts 49ers' Week 1 starting quarterback at Steelers

San Francisco 49ers insider Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area sounds confident quarterback Brock Purdy will be good to go for Week 1 this September. 

"He's been working all the way through," Maiocco said about Purdy during a Thursday appearance on the KNBR "Murph & Mac" program, per David Bonilla of 49ers WebZone. "So all signs certainly are pointing to him. If I were a betting man right now, and the odds were, 'Who's going to be the starting quarterback for the 49ers on Sept. 10 against the Pittsburgh Steelers,' my money would go on Brock Purdy."

As recently as last month, free-agency signing Sam Darnold seemed to be the favorite to start over 2021 first-round draft pick Trey Lance at Pittsburgh as Purdy recovers from elbow surgery he underwent on March 10. However, the situation changed when 49ers general manager John Lynch said during a Wednesday appearance on SiriusXM NFL Radio the club was "incredibly encouraged" after Purdy began throwing sessions this week. 

Maiocco noted Thursday how head coach Kyle Shanahan "certainly is not among the more optimistic people you ever talked to" but suggested last week Purdy could be cleared to face Pittsburgh.

"And then John Lynch yesterday ... he drew a pretty rosy picture of where Brock Purdy is," Maiocco continued. "I think when you don't see it, you don't know exactly what's going on because you always kind of have this impression of, 'Oh, he can't start throwing until three months in,' but clearly he's putting in a lot of work and going through stuff. So he's working that elbow, and now, I think that throwing program is starting to ramp up."

Lynch repeated this week a healthy Purdy is his "leader in the clubhouse" to start for the 2023 49ers over Darnold and Lance. The 23-year-old suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow on Jan. 29 but could once again serve as an incredible feel-good NFL story this fall after he became a rookie sensation as the final pick of the 2022 draft.